Exemplary Practices D-1: Mentoring New Teachers: The Santa Cruz New Teacher Project

History

Since 1988 the Santa Cruz New Teacher Project (SCNTP) has, with remarkable success, helped nearly 2,000 K-12 teachers make the difficult transition into the teaching profession. The SCNTP is led by the Teacher Education Program of the University of California, Santa Cruz, in collaboration with the Santa Cruz County Office of Education and sixteen school districts in the surrounding area.

The SCNTP began as one of fifteen projects competitively funded through the California New Teacher Project (CNTP), a four-year research study (1988-1992) designed to identify the effective approaches to beginning teacher support. The project was co-administered by the California Department of Education and the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing. Program design brought together local stakeholders from across the various participating organizations, including university faculty, district and site administrators, union leaders, and veteran and novice teachers.

As a result of its participation in the CNTP, Santa Cruz New Teacher Project subsequently worked on a number of statewide efforts to identify and disseminate best practices around teacher induction. These included conducting the final validity study and revision of the California Standards for the Teaching Profession, consulting in the creation of the California Formative Assessment and Support System for Teachers (CFASST), and developing training programs for mentors and program administrators who are part of California's present teacher induction efforts.

Currently serving nearly 450 novice teachers, the SCNTP is part of California's Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment Program, the statewide initiative that provides approximately $3,200 in funding per beginning teacher. These monies are augmented by local school districts at a rate of $2,100 per teacher. The investment in teacher induction is seen by both the state and participating districts as a cost-effective way to promote teacher quality and increase teacher retention. Research studies documenting SCNTP teacher retention over time are currently being conducted. Preliminary results indicate that after seven years 94% of SCNTP participants remain in the teaching profession. Teacher effectiveness and demonstrated leadership capacity are being examined.

The SCNTP support model is focused on advanced achievement of all learners, particularly students from diverse socio-economic, linguistic, cultural, and ethnic backgrounds. The program philosophy is described by the following fundamental beliefs:

• Learning to teach is a career-long, developmental process
• Support should be responsive to the needs of each new teacher and embedded in every teacher's classroom practice
• Teacher learning best occurs in collaborative environments
• Instructional changes are most likely to occur when teachers assess their practices against recognized professional standards
• Teaching is a continuous cycle of teaching, inquiry into practice, self-assessment, self-prescription, and re-teaching
• Professional learning must have at its core student learning

Central to the SCNTP induction model are the partnerships that form between the novice and mentor (new teacher advisor). Mentors are exemplary veteran teachers on loan full-time from participating districts for a period of two to three years. Matched with beginning teachers according to grade level and subject matter expertise, mentors advise first and second year teachers. Mentors meet weekly with each novice for approximately two hours before, during or after school providing mentees context specific support.

In addition, new teachers receive release days for observation of other teachers, curriculum planning, and self-assessment. A monthly seminar series serves as a network where these novice teachers share accomplishments and challenges with peers. Special attention is paid to literacy, language development, strategies for working with diverse student populations, and the needs of English language learners.

With the mentor/advisor's guidance and assistance beginning teachers develop a portfolio that documents their growth in relation to professional standards. Advisors help the beginning teachers collect and analyze evidence of their classroom practice. The new teachers work with their mentors to assess their developing classroom practice on the SCNTP Developmental Continuum of Teachers Abilities, aligned with the California Standards. This collaborative self-assessment is then used to develop an Individual Learning Plan focused on specific standard areas.

Over the course of the year, mentor/advisors and new teachers collaborate to meet the novice's immediate instructional needs while maintaining steady progress towards the self-identified professional growth goals. Collaborative Assessment Logs record the teacher's progress from week to week, and various items representing the teacher's learning and/or the growth of their students in relation to professional goals are collected.

Mentoring new teachers is complex and demanding work that involves learning skills other than those classroom teachers possess. Therefore, regular support and professional development for the nearly forty new teacher mentors are important components of the SCNTP model. Mentors receive a half-day orientation to the program and two days of foundational training, followed by weekly staff development at Friday morning staff meetings. Here mentors have the opportunity to discuss challenges relating to their work; examine and analyze data of teacher practice; practice observation and coaching skills; review SCNTP assessment tools and their use; develop greater familiarity with the CSTP; and give input into the refinement of program structures and processes. Training is provided in the areas of literacy development; coaching and observational skills; giving feedback; equity pedagogy; and group facilitation skills.

Program development is guided by a formative process of program evaluation, annual peer review activities involving other BTSA programs in the region, as well as external program evaluation conducted by the California Educational Research Cooperative at the University of California-Riverside. The SCNTP develops an annual program improvement plan as part of its participation in the BTSA and a leadership team oversees its implementation.

New teachers and principals report that participation in the SCNTP has made a significant contribution to the quality of their teaching and to their success as a beginning teacher. A pilot research study in the area of literacy development has shown that student achievement in new teachers' classroom matches that of students taught by veteran teachers. Evaluation studies over the years also show that SCNTP beginning teachers exhibit increased job satisfaction; are retained at higher rates; work more effectively with diverse students; and are better able to problem-solve around issues of instruction and student achievement. In a recent principal survey 95% of respondents credited the SCNTP with significantly improving beginning teacher performance.

The success of the SCNTP induction model led to the creation in 1998 of a statewide and national teacher induction center at the University of California, Santa Cruz, funded by various private foundations. The New Teacher Center (NTC) at UCSC serves as an umbrella organization, which includes the SCNTP program of direct support for novice teachers; dissemination of best induction practices; technical assistance and training for those involved in designing and delivering programs of beginning teacher support; research and program evaluation; and advocacy for policies that promote teacher professional development. The NTC is also in the second year of a pilot new administrator program.

Institutional Mission and Context

The University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC), which opened in 1965, is one of ten campuses of the University of California and enrolls approximately 11,000 students. Some 90% of the students are undergraduates who pursue over 40 majors supervised by divisional deans of Humanities, Natural Sciences, Social Sciences, and Art. Graduate students work toward graduate certificates, masters degrees, or Ph.D. degrees in 26 academic fields. UCSC is deeply committed to attracting a student body that represents the diversity of California's population. Nearly 75% of the entering freshman class come from public California high schools. Surveys show that alumni are most likely to pursue careers in education and teaching; psychology; and law.

Chancellor M.R.C. Greenwood is committed to linking campus programs to the broader community and actively supports programs that provide off-campus internships for students. Recent efforts have focused on establishing K-12 regional and local partnerships in the greater Santa Cruz regional and the Silicon Valley. A number of programs and campus-based centers including New Teacher Center; the Center for Research on Education, Diversity, and Excellence (CREDE); and the Educational Partnership Center are dedicated to working with K-12 educational institutions.

The purpose of the Education Department's instructional program is to prepare all students, undergraduates through graduates, to engage in the analysis and integration of educational theory, research, and practice for a multilingual, multicultural society. A central focus of the program is to use educational theory and research in the development of effective teaching and learning in culturally and linguistically diverse classrooms. The Education Department currently has three instructional programs:

1. An undergraduate minor in education
2. The Master's of Arts: Emphasis in Teaching degree which also leads to the CLAD/BCLAD [(bilingual) Cross-cultural, language and academic development] teaching credentials
3. The Master's of Arts: Emphasis in Research degree

The programs aim to develop a continuum of learning from undergraduate through graduate study and, in teacher education, from preservice through induction and on to continued education for experienced teachers. Approximately 100 graduates are enrolled in the master?s programs, and nearly 400 undergraduates have declared an Education minor.

The sixteen school districts in the Santa Cruz New Teacher Project (SCNTP) range in size from 100 to nearly 20,000 ADA. Two of the districts are located in urban environments. The largest of the districts, Pajaro Valley Unified School District, has been designated a rural enterprise zone characterized by high poverty rates and the pressing needs of rural agricultural communities. Schools throughout the SCNTP consortium serve large numbers of English Language Learners. Additionally these districts are faced with the challenge of recruiting and hiring fully credentialed teachers.

Key Partners

For more information about the Santa Cruz New Teacher Project and the New Teacher Center at UCSC, contact:

Ellen Moir, Executive Director, New Teacher Center at UCSC
Phone: (831) 459-4323
Fax: (831) 459-3822
Email: ntc@zzyx.ucsc.edu
Website: www.newteachercenter.org

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